Britain may have left the EU, but there are plenty of reasons we’re all still in love with Europe – and for 2021, these could include these wonderful new hotels.
From elegant options in neighbouring Ireland, to hip new openings over in Serbia and restoration projects in Romania, we have picked out some interesting gems that should hopefully get clients thinking about their 2021 travel plans.
Ireland
New for the spring will be Carton House (pictured above), a Fairmont-managed hotel, half an hour from Dublin with 169 rooms. Guests will love the vast 1,100-acre estate, but the centrepiece is The House, which features 18 suites and staterooms named after characters associated with the history of Carton House, while two world-class 18-hole championship golf courses are designed by Colin Montgomerie and Mark O’Meara.
Another one to keep on the radar is 42-bedroom Cashel Palace Hotel, where a huge restoration and renovation project is expected to near its end by the middle of the year. Built in 1734 and steeped in history, this former archbishop’s grand country house will now host the Bishop’s Buttery Restaurant and new additions will include a ballroom and spa overlooking the gardens.
France
Initially soft-launched in 2020, but hoping for a full season in 2021, is Maison Ila (pictured) created by Denise Leicester, founder of organic skincare and spa brand Ila. Also known as also known as Le Tresor, it is set in the heart of the Aude countryside (2.5 hours from Toulouse), and the main house has five bedrooms, communal dining space, treatment room and yoga and sound-healing studio, while a self-contained cottage also has two bedrooms.
One of many projects worldwide that delayed its opening until the (hopefully) brighter times of 2021 is Airelles Chateau de Versailles, Le Grand Controle, which – as the name suggests – sits right at the heart of the Chateau de Versailles, featuring 14 rooms and suites, Alain Ducasse restaurant, spa by Valmont and indoor pool. One of the hot spots of the summer will be Villa Sainte-Anne, sitting opposite Oetker Collection’s Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. After a two-year refurbishment, guests will love the five en-suite bedrooms, spa, cascading gardens with pool and full team ready to take care of every whim.
And for deluxe skiers, one new option is Ultima Courchevel, which combines 13 chalets with two spas, lavish restaurant and direct access to the slopes of the Tarentaise Valley, located just in between 1850 and 1650.
Paris will of course also come back to life for international travellers eventually, and Bvlgari will be arriving in the city in the summer with a 76-room hotel. Bvlgari Hotel Paris is on Avenue George V, between the Champs Elysees and the Avenue Montaigne, and will have a spa with 25-metre pool, a Bvlgari restaurant and courtyard garden bar. As is often the case, Bvlgari will collaborate with Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel for the design, along with Parisian architects Valode & Pistre. Another hotel to have in your address book will be a new addition to Maisons Pariente’s chic collection of properties, Le Grand Mazarin, which is set to open towards the end of the year.
Switzerland
Oetker Collection will be expanding its European footprint even further with the arrival of The Woodward, a 26-suite hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva transformed by the legendary Pierre-Yves Rochon, with gastronomy driven by Joel Robuchon and Alain Verzeroli – his cuisine is pictured here – and a spa by Guerlain.
And the fresh air and charming chocolate-box scenery of the Swiss Alps is about to be added to by the beautiful Kempinski Palace Engelberg, which opens its 129 rooms and suites and top-floor infinity pool in the spring, 90 minutes from Zurich.
Italy
We can almost guarantee there’ll be one place on all luxury agents’ and operators’ lips in 2021: Reschio (pictured above). This place has had incredible farmhouses for rent for a while, but the 36-room Hotel Castello di Reschio makes its elegant debut in April, giving wider access to the 700-acre ancient pastoral estate in the Umbrian hills.
Also keep an eye on the two villas at Borgo Pignano in Tuscany: one is the completely new two-bedroom Villa La Lavandaia, and the other is a refurbishment of Villa La Fonte, available to book from spring. The hotel has an “in-house herbalist”, who gathers wild and cultivated herbs for use in the kitchen and guest bathroom products and spa, and thanks to a long-established relationship with The Royal Drawing School in London, an alumnus is always on-site and available for painting classes for guests.
Staying in Tuscany, the family behind Castello di Vicarello is spreading its wings – but out to the country’s fashion capital with the launch of Vico Milan in March, a seven-bedroom guesthouse just a short walk to the Duomo and the fashionable district of Via Tortona.
Some interesting things are happening elsewhere in Italy as well of course – including the arrival of Six Senses Rome later in 2021. Set around the Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini on Piazza di San Marcello, it will have 95 rooms and suites, a spa with Roman baths, Alchemy Bar for learning about the power of local herbs and plants and an Earth Lab, which will focus on sustainable living, as well as a rooftop terrace. Meanwhile, the InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace also opens in Q4 on the iconic Via Veneto, with 160 rooms, rooftop, restaurant, bar and a spa.
Another Italian newcomer is Casa di Langa in Piedmont (part of Preferred Hotels & Resorts), which will be launching in the spring. This 39-room sustainable luxury retreat sits next to the vineyard landscapes of Le Langhe, a Unesco World Heritage site, and its laudable green practices include a commitment to carbon neutrality and the use of 100% recycled water for irrigation.
And finally, two new openings in Sicily are bound to get attention – from Rocco Forte Hotels comes Villa Igiea, an iconic palazzo at the foot of Mount Pellegrino overlooking the gulf of Palermo, set to open in May, and from Four Seasons, the brand’s management and renovation of San Domenico Palace in Taormina should come to fruition by the summer, including a new beach club, spa and restaurant, as well as retaining the Michelin-starred restaurant, Principe Cerami.
